Foldable lounge chair



June 26, 1956 sMlTH 2,751,970

FOLDABLE LOUNGE CHAIR Filed April 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.MARION J SMITH ATT RNEY June 26, 1956 M. J. SMITH FOLDABLE LOUNGE CHAIR2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 1954 INVENTOR.

MARION J. SMIT W track means. A rear cross bar 17 is secured to the armsand constitutes a brace therefor as well as a support for the back and afront cross bar 18 is secured to the fore endsof the arms. and serves asa brace and as a support for the seat 4 and leg rest 6.

The seat'4' and back 5, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, are pivotallyconnected together by a cross rod 19 having rollers 20 at .its ends forrolling and/ or sliding movement within the confines of the track meansformed by the side rails 16. As depicted inFi'gure 7, each of theserails is preferably made in the form of a channel to provide a pair oftrack formations 21 for each roller. Each rail orchannelis open alongits inner side to provide clearance for a collar 22 carried by the rod.A collar is located between each of the rollers and the seat was tocenterithe seat and back unit and space the latter from the track means.It will be noted by repair of links 32 and 33, are similarly connectedtogether and to the axle and cross member. In order to impart stabilityto the connection means, the links are preferably constructed from angleiron and the outer ends of the links are preferably provided withsleeves as shown which surround the axle and cross member. The fact thatthe cross member is detachably connected to the rails and that therespective pairs of links are detachably connected offer advantages withrespect to .manufacture and assembly. Attention is directed to the factthat the lengths of respective pairs of links are such that they limitforward movement of the arm unit on the base and thereby assist inlocating the ends of the arms in predetermined ferring to Figures 6 and7 that the bottom of each of a the side rails 16 is provided with anentrance opening 23 adjacent its front end so as to facilitate entry ofthe wheels into the rails or tracks and thereby permit assembly of theseat and back unit with the arm structure after the latter has beencompleted or made up. In other words, the seat and back unit and the armunit can be readily detachably connected together.

The seat preferably includes a top portion, depending side walls 24provided with abutment means in the form of; notches 25 and a dependingfront wall 26 provided with a slot 27, as depicted in Figure l. Thearrangement is such that the seat and back unit can be moved forwardlyor rearwardly on the track means to a position desired whereby the backwill find support on the rear bar 17 and a pair of opposed notches onthe seat will receive and rest on the front bar 18 as shown in Figure 1.If one desires to sit in a more erect position it is merely necessary toshift the unit rearwardly so that the foremost notches on the seat willengage, the front bar 18 and when one desires to rest in a recliningposition the unit will be moved forwardly so that the rearmost notcheswill engage the front bar. With this setup the unit can be easily andquickly adjusted, within practicable limits, to meet the needs of anyperson and when desired,-the back can be swung forwardly and upon theseat to protect and keep the seat clean when not in use. 7

Attention is directed to the fact that when the arm 7 unit is in theoperative position shown in Figure l, the

side rails 16 will find support on the side rails 7 of the base so thatany strain or weight placed on the side rails 16 is primarily impartedor transferred to the base. This permits one to utilize side rails ortrack means of a lighter construction.

Attention is also directed to the fact that the front and rear cornersof the base are preferably provided with upstanding projections or pins28, as shown in Figures 3 and 6, which are adapted to snugly fit intothe tubular ends of the curved arms 15 whereby to assist in locating andholding the arm unit in position on the base. If found desirable,vadditional means such as snap-connections or latches may be employed tolock the arm unit in operative position on the base unit.

The arm unit and seat and back unit together constitute an assemblywhich is detachably and pivotally connected to the base unit asexemplified in the drawing; The connection means 3 for this purposeincludes a tubular cross member 29 having its ends extending into andsupported on the side rails 16 of the arm structure. .As shown in Figure8, plugs 30 are fixed in the ends of this cross member andtscrews 31extend through washers and the rails and threadedly connect with theplugs for detachably securing the cross member to the rails. Theconnection means also includes a pair of links 32 and 33 having theirouter ends respectively rotatably connected to the axle 12 and the crossmember 29 and their inner ends are pivotally and detachably connected bya bolt positions to receive the pins 28. It is to be understood that anymeans suitable for the purpose, other than the particular form ofconnection means illustrated, may be employed to establish an operativeconnection between the arm unit and base.

The leg rest 6 may be utilized in conjunction with the chair and may bemade in different ways. As illustrated, the rest includes an elongatedtop wall 37 having an outer relatively wide extremity 38 to provide arest for the feet. Except for the Wide extremity 38 the rest is maderelatively narrow so that it can be easily straddled for convenience ingetting into and out of the chair. The leg rest 'is suitably reenforcedby internal web structure as shown and supports a shaft 39. Wheels 4%are carried by the ends of the shaft to promote mobility. The innerextremity of the leg rest, as clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5, isprovided with a pair of semi-cylindrical fittings 41 which fit'onto thefront rail 8 of the base. The inner extremity of the leg rest is furtherprovided with a curved lip or hook portion 42 which rests on the frontcross bar 18 of the arm unit as shown in Figure l. A pair of slidablecollars 43 are carried by the front rail and located between the restand front legs 10 of the base. These collars are urged toward oneanother by helical springs 44 also carried by the front rail. Thecollars are recessed as indicated at 45 so as to normally receive theouter ends of the fittings 41 and thereby lock the leg rest to the baseunit. To efiect'a release of the leg rest from the base unit and armunit jointly serve as a support for the inner extremity of the leg rest.

When the seat and back unit is moved forwardly to its full limit oftravel, the front portion of the seat will extend quite some distancebeyond the front of the chair and overlie the leg rest to an extentwhich renders the rest less serviceable. In order to offset thiscondition and promote continuity between the seat and rest the hook 42on the rest can be inserted into the slot 27 in the front wall of therest as shown in Figure 4.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent that the seat and back canbe placed one againstvthe other and that this unit and the arm unit canbe readily swung around and into a nested position substantially withinthe confines of the base unit as illustrated in Figure 3 and that theleg rest can be swung upwardly and over into nesting relationship withthe base unit and arm unit to provide a folded compact assembly. Sincethis folded chair assembly is more or less flat sided, chairs can beconveniently stacked one upon the other flatwise or edgewi'se. Thissetup allows several chairs of applicants description to be stored in amuch smaller space than is required for a large and long chairtof theconventional In the modification of Figure 10 two corresponding pairs oflinks are provided. The upper links are joined to a tubular cross member46 extending substantially 34. A pair of links 35 and 36, correspondingto the across the full width of the arm unit. The cross member isrotatably mounted on a suitable rod and the lower links are joined to asimilar cross member 47 carried by a rod. This particular arrangementserves to lend structural stability to the chair and aifords asatisfactory way of locating the base unit and arm unit in properoperative relationship.

It will thus be apparent that improved principles of design andconstruction have been embodied in the chair and that the chair offersmany advantages as to use,

manufacture and assembly, and storage that are not present inconventional chairs.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousmodifications may be made in the same without departing from the spiritof the invention, and, therefore, I do not wish to be understood aslimiting myself to the exact forms, constructions, arrangements, andcombinations of parts herein shown and described.

I claim:

1. A chair comprising a base provided with legs, an arm unit providedwith tracks, a seat and back pivotally connected and movable as a uniton the tracks, and means connecting the arm unit with the base in amanner whereby the seat and back as a unit and the arm unit can be movedfrom nested positions from between the legs to place the arm unit in asupporting position on the base.

2. A chair of the kind described comprising a base having top rails andlegs, an arm unit connected to the base for movement to an operativeposition on the rails or to an inoperative position below the top railsand between the legs of the base, and seat structure adjustably mountedon the arm unit.

3. The structure defined in claim 2, in which the seat structure isprovided with one component of an attaching means, and a leg rest isprovided with the other component which is operatively connected to saidone com ponent.

4. A chair comprising a base provided with legs, an arm unit providedwith tracks, a seat and back pivotally connected and movable as a on thetracks, means connecting the arm unit with the base in a manner wherebythe seat and back unit and the arm unit can be moved from nestedpositions from between the legs to place the arm unit in a supportingposition on the base, cooperable means on the arm unit, cooperable meanson the base, and cooperable means on the-seat, and a leg rest providedwith means connectible with any one of said cooperable means.

5. A chair of the kind described comprising a base having downwardlydivergent front legs and rear legs, an arm unit of a length the same asthe distance between the legs at their upper ends, and pairs of linksconnecting the arm unit to the base for manual movement to an operativeposition thereon or to an inoperative position substantially between thelegs of the base.

6. A chair comprising a base having downwardly divergent front and rearlegs, an elongated arm unit mounted on the base, said arm unit being ofa length substantially equal to the distance between the upper ends ofthe legs and provided with track means supporting a seat, and a linkagepivotally connected to the base and pivotally and slidably connected tothe track means on the arm unit whereby the arm unit can be swung into anested position between the legs or on top of the base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS360,729 Roberts Apr. 5, 1887 868,324 Buckman Oct. 15, 1907 918,433Gaertner Apr. 13, 1909 922,994 Zabel May 25, 1909 1,142,657 ArmstrongJune 8, 1915 1,876,408 Gibson Sept. 6, 1932 2,567,222 Lorenz Sept. 11,1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,008 Great Britain 1888 18,606 Great Britain 1908284,340 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1952

